Shale Gale Builds

10:18 AM MDT | June 13, 2011

Shell Chemical’s announcement of an Appalachia cracker brings planned U.S. ethylene expansion to more than 5 million m.t. by 2018 (p. 5). It is a remarkable turn. Three years ago most analysts were forecasting that basic chemicals would be imported into the U.S. by the end of the decade because of high energy and natural gas costs. The rapid rebound in U.S. chemical profits, fueled by low-cost shale gas, was already set to top discussions at ACC’s annual meeting in Colorado Springs, CO last week, and Shell’s announcement underscores that...